In a continuing effort to improve the quality of shipping fruits, I, the inventor, typically hybridize a large number of peach, nectarine, plum, apricot, and cherry seedlings each year. I also grow a lesser number of open pollinated seeds of each of these fruits, usually to capture recessive traits. The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of peach tree, which has been denominated varietally as ‘Pearl Princess V’.
The present variety was hybridized by me in 2000 as a first generation cross using ‘Grand Pearl’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,960) nectarine as the selected seed parent and ‘Snow Princess’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,570) peach as the selected pollen parent. The fruit of this cross was gathered that summer, and the seeds were removed, cracked, stratified, germinated, and grown as seedlings on their own root in my greenhouse. Upon reaching dormancy the seedlings were transplanted as a group to a cultivated area of my experimental orchard located near Le Grand, Calif., in Merced County (San Joaquin Valley). During the fruit evaluation season of 2004 I selected the present variety as a single tree from the group of seedlings described above. Subsequent to origination of the present variety of nectarine tree, I asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting in the experimental orchard described above, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original plant in all respects. The reproduction of the variety included the use of ‘Nemaguard’ (unpatented) rootstock upon which the present variety was compatible and true to type.
The present variety is similar to its seed parent ‘Grand Pearl’ nectarine by producing fruit that is white in flesh color, mostly red in skin color, and very sweet and sub-acidic in taste, but is quite distinguished therefrom by requiring less chilling hours, by being a peach instead of nectarine, and by producing fruit that matures about three weeks earlier.
The present variety is similar to its pollen parent, ‘Snow Princess’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,570) peach by producing peaches that are large, firm, freestone in type, white in flesh color, and mostly red in skin color, but is distinguished therefrom by producing fruit that is sweeter in flavor and that matures about thirty days earlier.
The present variety is more similar to ‘Ice Princess’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,974) peach by producing peaches that are firm in texture, freestone in type, white in flesh color, and mostly red in skin color, but is distinguished therefrom by producing fruit that is larger in size, that matures about sever days earlier, and that is a tasty balance of acid and sugar rather than sub-acidic in flavor.